In 1985, when Keith and I first moved in together we got a cat from Animal Welfare and named her Ashley. She was a cool cat who definitely had a mind of her own.
In 1995, Keith and I decided to officially tie the knot on our 10 year anniversary of living in sin. When the week of our wedding finally arrived, Ashley had mysteriously disappeared. After much searching we found her stiff as a board in the bushes alongside the road near our house. Bummer.... could this be an omen?
Two days later Jerry Garcia passed away. Yup, must be an omen. Things happen in threes, you know. So we can't possibly get married.... or at least that's what we told everyone. Being deadheads, some actually believed us.
7 years later, during the week of our wedding anniversary and on the anniversary of Jerry Garcia's death, a little gray tiger kitten appeared in our backyard. This was odd because our backyard has a stockade fence and our neighborhood is not one where you would normally find stray animals. Now this little kitten was skin and bones. He was busy foraging for bugs and eating them. When he wasn't, he was crying incessantly. So of course, we put food out for him. After a day or two he would actually come near us and eventually we were able to get him into the house.
Before taking him to the vet to get checked out, we needed a name for him. After some discussion, we both agreed that given the circumstances of his appearance that his name should be Garcia.
This is Garcia at 6 months. He is now 2 years old.
Like his namesake he's is one cool cat. However, unlike his namesake, he can really move --- more like "Bing, Bing, Bing Ricochet Rabbit".